


Sticks and Stones

by YvY91



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Anti-Android Sentiments (Detroit: Become Human), Blood and Injury, Established Relationship, Gavin Reed Being Less of an Asshole, Hurt Gavin Reed, Hurt Upgraded Connor | RK900, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Protests, Self-Harm, Soft Gavin Reed, Soft Upgraded Connor | RK900, Violence, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:35:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24813166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YvY91/pseuds/YvY91
Summary: What started as a normal day ended up in a fight for survival when Gavin and Nines met groups of Anti-Android protesters.
Relationships: Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Comments: 20
Kudos: 152





	Sticks and Stones

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, everyone. Some of you may have read this on Discord already, and after some encouraging words from the super nice people there to upload it to Ao3, I thought ... Okay, why not? 
> 
> So, here it is. I hope you like it ❤️

The soft sound of cursing drew Gavin's attention away from his phone, he fixed his gaze to the android, who stood in front of the TV in the living room.

The detective couldn't help himself and his eyebrows rose up in surprise.

To hear Nines cursing was a rarity - even in the worst situations his partner kept swearing to a minimum.

"Hey, what's wrong?" asked Gavin as he walked to stand beside his android, though, the brunette didn't need an answer, one look at the screen was self explanatory in itself.

News about ant-android protesters swarming the streets of detroit.

A lot of them.

Gavin swallowed heavily, a feeling of dread manifested inside his chest, making his heart speed up. A few years, hell... even months ago, he probably would have been a part of them. Well maybe not to this extent, but he might have voiced his displeasure of androids taking over jobs that the normal people needed to survive. 

But now...he couldn't even imagine a life without them.

Without Nines.

It had taken the android only a few weeks until he managed to get Gavin's walls to crumble down.

Every precaution the detective ever made, the distances he tried to maintain to everyone, just everything had slowly unraveled to the point where Gavin had fallen in love with Nines.

Gavin sighed softly, it was going to be a tough day, he was sure of it.

Driving to work with Nines this morning was different. They sat beside each other in silence.

No music, no humming, no talking.

Blue and grey eyes were focused on what was going on in the streets - People screaming, pointing their fingers and many officers, as well as civilians, who had their hands full to keep the situation as calm as possible.

The man was sure that Fowler would send them out to help the other officers today, which was fine by him, he could have an eye on Tina and Chris that way.

They took the last turn and Gavin could immediately see a large crowd of people right outside the police station. The amount of them made the man swallow in unease.

"Nines...?" said Gavin, his voice tense, "I think we shouldn't use the main gate to the parking lot."

Nines' lips were pressed to a thin line, the sharp line of his jaw jumped as his synthetic muscles tensed underneath pale skin.

"...Hmmm, yes. It's not safe to take this route." Their car slowed down, and three things happened simultaneously after that.

Nines' LED turned to a bright red, illuminating the insides of their car. People across from them noticed that their police car and then ... someone pointed a finger at them.

The protester's lips moved and Gavin knew what the man was saying without hearing him.

_There is an android in the car!_

The angry mob had surrounded the car before Gavin, or Nines had a chance to do anything about it.

"Gavin, look at me..." Gavin looked at his lover, his heart beating frantically inside his chest.The android's blue eyes fixed on his own.

"Everything will be alright, keep calm and stay focused." said the android firmly and a softer, "I love you," followed right after.

How the android managed to stay so calm despite their situation was a mystery to Gavin. Before the detective had a chance to answer, the sound of shattering glass filled the air causing Gavin's heart to leap into his throat.

He turned around to get a better view to the backside of the vehicle, only to see that glass at the rear was broken. Dented as if someone had hit a heavy stone against it.

The people, now gathered around their car, screamed and pressed their hand against the metal, causing the car to move, and the next thing Gavin heard was the breaking of the windows on their sides.

Glass rained down on them just before hands followed to grab at Nines' white jacket, which caused the android to let out a shout.

Gavin pulled at his partners shoulder, pressing him against his own chest in hope to get them both away from the hands reaching though the broken windows.

In vain, as it turned out.

Someone managed to pull Nines away from the detective's tight grip, and they started to pull the android through the side window.

Gavin reached for his lover, his finger barely brushed the edge of Nines' sleeve as the android too, tried to reach for the detective's hand, and then his partner was gone.

"Nines... NINES...Noo, leave him alone you fucking assholes. Nines!!! Get your hands off of him!" screamed the man, his voice cracking in distress. His shouting was cut off when hands seized him and tried to pull him through the window by his side.

In a last attempt to escape the angry mob, Gavin leaned over to the passenger side, where his android partner and lover had disappeared a few moments ago. Though, there was no possible way for Gavin to escape and he let out a scream when the people managed to get a hold of his jacket and shoulder.

Everything went too fast after that, he tried to reach for his gun as he struggled against the strong and bruising force that people had on his arms, but his fingertips slipped away as soon as he felt the cool metal of his weapon. The gun slipped out of his holster and disappeared under the seat.

"No, No...Let me go, let GO!!!" panic spread through the grey-green eyed man when he realizes that he couldn't fight them all - that he was powerless to stop this from happening.

After another pull on his jacket, his head and shoulders were outside the car window, while his legs kicked around aimlessly at the inside of the vehicle.

People grabbed at his clothes and pulled on them to drag Gavin completely out of the car.

This time they were successful and Gavin felt himself being moved against his will. The feeling of the sharp, broken glass cutting deep lines into his skin, were his jacket and shirt were pushed up and exposed his skin, went unnoticed.

The detective was dropped to the ground as soon as his feet were outside the window, he barely managing to get his hands underneath himself before his face smacked against the ground. After that, it was only pain that greeted him.

Fists and shoes collided with his body mercilessly. No one spared a single part as they kept going. The only thing Gavin could do was to make himself as small as possible, though he failed miserably. The next time a shoe collided against his side made Gavin cry out in pain. The feeling of one of his ribs giving way caused his nerves go up in flames.

He was lying on side now, with his arms wrapped around his head and knees pulled against his chest, he tried to hold on.

Blackness seeped into his vision and he closed his eyes, afraid of what coming next, "Gav...!" cried a familiar voice, causing the detective opened his eyes once again in hope to catch a glimpse of his lover.

However, his vision was blocked by legs and shoes making his eyes fill up with hot tears of despair. Something collided heavily with the side of his head, making his ears ring and his vision dimmed rapidly and a second later the sound of gunfire rang in the distance causing people to scream and move away from where they had gathered.

It was then, that Gavin managed to look at his partner on the other side of the car. The pain, his body was in before couldn't be compared to what he was feeling now.

Nines was almost unrecognizable, the protestors hadn't just used their fists to cause damage to the android...it was too strong for that...it was too much...Gavin's thoughts were raging as his eyes wandered over every surface of his lover's body...

Blue eyes were opened wide, staring back at him motionless and empty. Thirium had gathered like tears around the android's eyes, weighing heavily on long dark eyelashes.

Blue blood streamed through various wounds on the android's skin, collecting under his head and torso, creating a sea of vibrant blue.

So much damage, how could anyone do something like that!?

The man let out a whimper when he noticed that his partner's arm stretched out under the vehicle. Gavin could see the damaged white chassis, were the synthetic skin had pulled away from fingertips.

Nines must have tried to crawl underneath the car to help him...

"Nines." Gavin gasped his android's name, but didn't receive an answer, or any other kind of response by the android. "...oh, no...please...Nines? Nines?!" Gavin called out again before he started to squirm on the ground in order to move under the car too.

Though, the pain caused by moving his limbs made him stop with a loud groan, the detective's eyes filled with tears and when the blackness crawled over his vision once again he didn't fight it.

Gavin barely noticed footsteps approaching him, but he was able to feel the hands on his body a moment later.

Gentle ones this time, they patted and over his arms, back, and neck. Checking for broken bones before they gently turned him around. A painful cough was forced from Gavin's lungs the moment his back connected to the cool ground, every single inch of his body was on agony.

It was too much...for his mind - for his body... The sudden tiredness that overcame him made his eyelids flutter.

The person who turned him to his back spoke urgently, words flowed like a wave over Gavin, and it took all of his willpower to focus on them.

"Detective? Reed? Come on, don't be so stubborn and wake up." Gavin recognized the voice of Jeffrey Fowler and the feeling of the older man's finger tapping his face gently, helped to bring him away from the brink of unconsciousness. He opened his gray-green eyes slowly and muttered a few words, which quickly turned into a harsh cough.

"Nines...Nines? Is he okay?" he managed to press out as soon as his cough subsided.

"Don't worry about him right now, focus on staying awake, Reed." said Fowler before the man cursed under his breath, taking a brief look at the paramedics that should be here any moment now.

Gavin was unable to see himself, to see the damage done to him, but for Fowler it was a shocking sight. The detective looked like he had been involved in car crash. The younger man couldn't see the blood that ran over his cracked lips, how it slowly made its way down his cheeks; how it gathered in the hollow of his throat.

Gavin Reed was bleeding profusely, red blood slowly pooled underneath the car where it mixed with the blue of thirium that Nines' had lost.

Paramedics were surrounding them a few moments later and immediately started to cut away the detective's clothes, connected IV lines, and instruments to overview his vitals.

Gavin, however, didn't like that at all and began to move his arms away jerkily. The feeling of a heavy, warm hand on his forehead stilled him instantly.

"Calm down, Gavin. Let them help you. I'll stay here with you, don't worry." With his teeth pressed together, he forced himself to hold still and to keep himself from shouting in pain as they raised him to lay on a stretcher.

They wheeled him around the car and Gavin got another look at his lover. Technicians had turned the android to lay flat on his back now and they worked feverishly over the too still form.

The detective was unable to recognize what they were doing, though he wasn't paying that much attention to them anymore. His eyes settled on the dark LED. It wasn't even blinking slowly, there was nothing...

The feeling of exhaustion and pain disappeared with a sudden bout of adrenaline. Panic and fear were the things that followed.

He braced his arms against the stretcher he was lying on and pushed himself to a sitting position before anyone had the chance to stop the detective from doing so. The IV lines and needles dug into his flesh making Gavin wince briefly, but it still didn't stop him from pulling them away before throwing himself off the stretcher.

On shaky legs, he managed to take two steps towards his lover, but was then gripped by a pair of firm arms.

"No, let go. NINES...let go. I need - He needs me, let me go. Please!," Gavin screamed as he struggled against the hands that pulled him back, but with his last strength waning quickly, it didn't take long for his legs to give way completely.

The detective sobbed weakly, little whimpers, mixed with his partner's name, left his trembling lips until the man was unconscious and pliant in the arms of the medics and Fowler.

°^°^°^°^°^°^°^°^°^°^°

Grey-green eyes blinked open sluggishly and the first thing he saw were the white walls surrounding him.

He breathed in the smell of disinfectant and something only hospital could smell like, and it made bile rise up in his throat.

He was so exhausted that he couldn't even muster the strength to find out why he was here this time. The detective was dozing like this for hours when the feeling of dread washed over him, it came so sudden, it practically jerked him awake, and with it came the awareness that he was alone...someone... _Nines_

"Nines?" Gavin called for his android, his voice cracking, but there was no one on the room with him. This wasn't right the man thought, and slowly managed to force his body into a sitting position.

Dull pain went through his body with every little movement, just below the surface, and only the strong pain meds he received from an IV kept them at bay.

The steady sound of the heart monitor next to his bed had increased while he restlessly moved on the bed, and it got worse when Gavin's memories returned.

It was like his heart dropped out of his chest and the ground underneath him disappeared along with it. His mind screamed at him, the vivid images of his lover on the ground as blue thirium bled through uncountable wounds and cracked chassis, creating a large pool on the ground.

His LED ... colorless and without movements.

The sound of his blood rushing through his head drowned out the loud screeching of the monitor, and even when nurses entered the room to calm him, the pictures of Nines' damaged body didn't leave.

In his sudden panic, the detective had tried to flee the room to search for his missing android, though was immediately stopped by the hospital staff, and a dose of sedative was needed to keep him calm.

When the fog in his mind cleared a second time, hours had gone by and this time Gavin noticed that he wasn't alone in the room.

Slowly, he turned his head to the side and saw Fowler sitting on the chair next to his bed.

The older man looked back at him with slightly raised eyebrows, "You awake already?"

"I heard you gave the staff some trouble after waking up the first time. You were out for almost twelve hours, and before you start to flip a again...Nines is alright. I got a call before I came here. They have managed to repair the damage done to him, but he hasn't woken up yet."

Gavin watched Fowler closely, trying to see if the man was being honest, or just saying things to keep him calm. But as always, the older man's face was unreadable.

"I've brought you some clothes, the doc said you will be here for at least a week," Fowler said, pointing to the brown bag next to the chair before getting up.

The detective's mind was still struggling to follow everything, but there was one thing he knew.

He needed to get out of here, _now_.

With a grimace, he sad up and moved until his legs dangled down from the edge of the bed.

"Gavin, what the _hell_ do you think you're doing?" Jeffrey growled at him.

"What does it look like? I'm signing out AMA. I won't stay one more hour here while Nines is alone in some android repair center," he replied, hoping that the older man would not fight him with his decision.

Jeffrey, however, just pinched the bridge of his nose, cursed under his breath, and left the room only to return a minute later with Gavin's attending doctor.

To say that no one was happy to let Gavin leave the hospital just after a few hours of being admitted, was an understatement.

Not that the detective cared much, with Fowler's help he managed to get dressed, and he was out the hospital's front door as fast as his throbbing body and shaky legs allowed.

A large hand wrapped itself gently around his elbow when he stumbled over his own feet and he looked up at the older man beside him.

Fowler's face had taken on an unusually concerned expression, it made Gavin feel uneasy, "Let me drive you to the android clinic. I don't want you to lose consciousness in an automatic taxi and die." They both stood still for a few moments.

Gavin was too tired to fight the men, he nodded, muttered a quiet thank you, and then they were on the way.

With every minute that passed, Gavin wondered if leaving the hospital so early had been a good idea, the pain relievers stopped working and the pain gradually increased. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to keep his breathing steady.

Relief flooded him when they pulled up at the parking lot to the android repair center 

Fowler steadied Gavin as they made their way inside and an android was with them immediately, watching them with a friendly smile on his face.

With Gavin's thoughts in disarray, the first thing he blurted out was, "How is Nines? Can I see him?" His bruised fingers clenched into a fists. It hurt, but it was a distraction that Gavin needed to fight the anxiety growing inside his chest.

The blue LED on the android's temple turned yellow briefly and Fowler used the time to explain what had happened and why they were here.

The android nodded and smiled at him, "Yes, Nines is alright. The damage was severe, but we could replace and repair everything. You can visit him if you want, his room is at the end of the hall on your left."

Without further acknowledgment, Gavin stumbled towards Nine's room and when he entered the brightly lit room, his eyes immediately fell on the sleeping android.

He took in the still form, sheets were pulled up to his chest and his arms rested limply on the mattress. Nines looked normal, like he was he was an his resting mode.

Gone was all the damage done to him.

Gavin made his way to one of the chairs beside the bed and reached out to grab his lover's hand.

His eyes searched for a sign that Nines knew he was there, but there was nothing. The android lay still and with it Gavin's heart started to pick up again.

What if Nines didn't wake up?

What if something went wrong and the damage was more severe than they thought?

He gazed at Nines' LED, that had taken a calm blue color. Blue. The color should reassure him, but it didn't.

"Nines, can you hear me? Fuck...please, open your eyes..." Gavin said again and again, squeezing Nines' hand every now and then.

He was so, so tired.

The pain his body was in was almost too much for him to handle, though he wouldn't dare to leave now.

Just a bit of rest would surely help.

With their fingers entwined and his head resting on the androids arm, his mind faded to black.

It wasn't long before he could feel someone moving him, arms were wrapped around him, causing Gavin to stir and mumble in confusion.

"Shhh, love. Everything is alright, rest now. I'll be here..."

Gavin heard Nines' whisper, and it was all he needed to finally let his mind and body rest.

Knowing they both were safe.

°^°^°^°^°^°^°^°^°^°^°

When Gavin came to, he was hit by pain.

From the tips of his damn hair down to his toes, everything was a pulsing, throbbing mess.

With his breathing on hold he tried to remember what had happen to make him feel this way and an involuntary jerk went through his body as the memories rushed back to him.

He had been with Nines at the android clinic. What...-

"Gavin, darling...calm down. You're hurting yourself even more. Look at me, you're home. _We_ are home. It's okay." Nines' large hand rested over Gavin's racing heart and when Gavin finally managed to focus on the blue eyes of his android, it slowed down to a steady beat.

"Fucking hurts...Nines. Nines, are you alright? You wouldn't wake up...I thought I lost you..," Gavin didn't know how he still had tears left to shed, but here they were.Streaming down his face while Nines brushed them away gently.

"I heard you, Gav. I just needed a bit more time to recalibrate everything and wake up fully. I'm sorry for worrying you." Nines pressed his lips gently against Gavin's, before moving away for a few seconds.

"Here, take these." said Nines, placing painkillers and a glass of cool water in Gavin's hands.

Nines watched Gavin carefully and the man knew the android was scanning him. "Gavin, you really should have stayed in the hospital. I was so worried when I woke up only to find you nearly unconscious beside me. You do know that you have a broken rib, it could have been dangerous to move around too much."

"Damn, Nines. I was just so worried. You didn't see yourself after...You- I thought you were dead. I thought I lost you." Arms wrapped around him carefully and Nines moved to lie on the bed beside him.

"It's alright, Gav.. I'm sorry...you are so important to me. I love you so much and seeing you hurt. It's never easy for me either, you know that right?" whispered his android.

Gavin hummed under his breath, but knew he would always do everything to keep Nines safe, and there was nothing the android could do against it.

Because, what was his life now without Nines in it?

The android had been the one to show him that he was more than just some asshole.

That he could be more than a workaholic detective...

Nines had showed him that he was worth being loved and that Gavin was still able to feel love for someone else...after so many years of hiding behind walls to keep everyone away from him.

Gavin never wanted to miss this, the warmth of his lover's synthetic skin against his own, the feeling of soft hair tickling the the side of his face. The sound of the thirium pump beating rhythmically inside Nines' chest, a sound so incredibly comforting and soothing that it made Gavin yearn to listen to it every night after they went to bed.

He pushed himself further down the blankets and more firmly again Nines side, the painkillers made themselves known as the sharp throbbing pain starter to dull slowly and in turn made him drowsy.

"Nines, how did we got home anyway? I can't remember leaving, or driving here." Gavin mumbled against his android's chest, he had wondered about it for the past few minutes.

He remembered being moved, but not how they made it back home.

"I carried you out of the android clinic after I woke up and found you slumped over beside me. Captain Fowler was so nice to drive us home." Nines' fingers carded through Gavin's hair, "I must admit, I have never seen him that worried before. I think he cares more about you than you sometimes think."

Gavin hummed to himself quietly. It was true that Fowler knew Gavin since he was a teen, the older man had actually been the person to drag Gavin away from the streets and showed him how to get his life im order before he started to work with the DPD.

He took a mental note to thank his boss later, but for now he would just enjoy the moment and his lover's presence right next to him.

He sleepily focused on Nines' fingers and how they kept moving, gently stroking over parts of his undamaged skin and through his messy hair until he fell asleep.

Pain was the first thing that greeted him when he woke up again, and Gavin was already tired of waking up to this, and the second one was to the cold and empty feeling beside him.

He carefully turned his head to get a better view to the other side of the bed only to find it empty.

No android pressing against his side, it anywhere else inside the room. 

A quick touch with his hand over the now cold mattress let him know that Nines must have left some time ago.

A low groan left his lips when he forced his stiff body out of bed, muscles trembled painfully. If it hurt this much now, he didn't want to think about what he would go through in a day or two.

On unsteady legs he made his way out of the bedroom and down the hallway, and immediately was drawn to their bathroom door, where light shone from underneath it.

With a small frown on his face, he reached for the doorknob and tried, unsuccessfully, to open the door.

"Nines, you in there?" Gavin called out, letting his weight rest against the doorframe and listened for any movements from the other side. "Babe, open the door, please." and again, there was nothing.

"Nines? C'mon, tin-can, what are you doing? Open the door." Gavin tried again, rattling at the door. His knuckles tuned white from the tight grip he had on the doorknob.

He tried again and again while anxiety kept rising him with each try. "Nines! Don't force me the break the door open..." It was an empty treat, Gavin was too weak and his body in too much pain to break the door open, but damn he would try if he had to.

A quiet thump sounded through the silence as Gavin let his forehead drop to the sturdy wooden surface. The wood felt cool against his warm skin, almost too cool. "Nines, please open the door. Let me in, or just tell me you are alright." Gavin waited, with his mind already accepting the fact that he would call for help if Nines didn't open the door in the next few minutes.

And he waited...five minutes turned to ten, ten to fifteen, and just as his legs gave in and he sat down on the floor, a click from the door's lock let Gavin known that Nines had finally opened the door, and as quickly as he could he got up from the floor to get inside the bathroom.

His eyes immediately landed on his android, who sat on the ground beside the door, his back resting against the wall and head turned stubbornly away from the detective.

But Gavin didn't need to see Nines' face to know that the android was crying, the shaking shoulders and barely suppressed sobs were a enough.

The man stepped further inside the room and dropped to his knees beside the android.

"Nines, darling. What is it? Look at me, are you alright?" Gavin asked quietly, his hands hovering in the air as he spoke.

When Nines turned around to finally met his eyes, Gavin felt his heart drop inside his chest.

Where once was a colored LED at the android's temple was now a cracked and broken surface.

Small trickles of thirium ran down the side of his lover's head. A few seconds of silence filled the air around them until the detective got over his shocked and racing thoughts.

"Nines, what did you _do_?" Gavin raised his hands to cup the android's face, but stopped when his lover leaned away from his touch.

Though, the man didn't have any of it.

He gripped Nines shaking hands with his own and asked again, grey eyes never leaving blue ones.

Nines sniffed a few more times before his strained voice rang out, "It's my fault you're hurt. If I hadn't been in the car with you, or didn't still wear my LED nothing of this would have happened. They saw _me_. They saw me for what I am. An _android_ , Gavin. They saw me inside our car and chose to attack and you.. You -."

"Nines, damn... _stop_ it." Gavin interrupted the android, he just couldn't stand to see his love harm, or blame himself because of what had happened.

"Listen, none of what happened is your fault. It wasn't you who hurt me, but a bunch of idiots that can't live with the fact that androids are alive, and have the right to live a life like everyone else."

"Nines, please, please listen to me. I love you the way you are. I don't care what others think and I especially don't want you to ever harm yourself for anyone, not even me. You hear me?"

There were still tears running down on Nines' face, but he nodded slowly and Gavin leaned forward to place a gentle kiss against his android's forehead.

Gavin let his thumb caress the damaged skin at Nine temple, "Are you alright? Are you in pain?"

"No, I'm alright. The damaged skin will heal over in a few hours. I'm sorry for this, Gavin. I just...I don't know what came over me. I just - I can't get the memories of what happened out of my head. I know it was only a few hours ago, but still. I don't want to ever go through something like this again, and I don't want you to be in danger because of something I could have helped with. I'm sorry for this. I just felt it was the right thing to do."

"Just promise me not to harm yourself, Nines. Don't close me out if you need me, try to talk to me instead, alright?" Nines nodded briefly and reached out with his arms to wrap them around Gavin carefully.

They sat in silence for an indefinite amount of time before they started to move.

"Look at you, darling." mumbled Gavin and reached out to wet a towel and clean away all the traces of thirium he could see. 

With arms wrapped around each other, they made their way back to their bedroom, slipping under covers and holding onto each other.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. <3


End file.
